trial balance

American  

noun

Bookkeeping.

• trial balances
  plural

1. a statement of all the open debit and credit items, made preliminary to balancing a double-entry ledger.

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trial balance British  

noun

1. accounting a statement of all the debit and credit balances in the ledger of a double-entry system, drawn up to test their equality

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• trial balances
  plural

Etymology

Origin of trial balance

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trial balance

An ordinary merchant's accountant will, if need be, work a week to correct in his trial balance the variation of a cent.

From The History of Dartmouth College by Baxter Perry Smith

Taking the trial balance shown above, the following represent the trading account, profit and loss account, Balance sheet. and balance sheet compiled therefrom.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 2 "Bohemia" to "Borgia, Francis" by Various

This was not a matter of trial balance.

From Stubble by George Looms

Such a list is called a trial balance, an example of which is given below.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 2 "Bohemia" to "Borgia, Francis" by Various

I made out a trial balance for the business of the last six months.

From Desk and Debit or, The Catastrophes of a Clerk by Oliver Optic